Vegetius, Dürer, Fries

VEGETIUS RENATUS, FLAVIUS. Vier Bücher der Ritterschafft. Augsburg: Heinrich Steiner, 1529, woodcut illustration on title-page, woodcut portrait of a Landsknecht on A2v and repeated on P4v, full-page woodcut illustrations

DÜRER, ALBRECHT. Etliche Underricht zu Befestigung der Stett, Schloß und Flecken. (Nuremberg: [Hieronymus Andreae], October 1527), large woodcut armorial of Ferdinand I on title-page, 20 woodcut illustrations and diagrams (some double-page), with final errata leaf but without the extra folding plate depicting a fortress under siege



FRIES, LAURENT. Uslegung der Mercarthen oder Cartha marina. Strassburg: Johann Grüninger, 1527, large woodcut armorial on title-page by Hans Baldung Grien, folding woodcut map of the route taken by Alvise Cà da Mosto to Madeira and the Canaries in 1455, woodcut illustrations (including double-page view of "Calicut")



3 works in one volume, folio (300 x 200mm.), contemporary south German half blind-tooled pigskin over wooden boards, two clasps, nineteenth-century black paper labels on spine with gilt lettering, contemporary manuscript list of contents on inside front cover, a few small wormholes running throughout, extremities slightly rubbed

"Ad Sacristiam Chori S. Wilibaldi", inscription at head of first title-page, i.e. the cathedral of St Willibald in Eichstätt

1st work: VD16 V466; Fairfax Murray, German 420; 2nd work: VD16 D2853; Fairfax Murray, German 151; Cockle 766; 3rd work: VD16 F2848 (listing 3 copies); Alden & Landis 527/3; Karrow 28/N.1

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The detailed woodcut illustrations in this edition of Vegetius, depicting siege engines, artillery and devices for breathing under water, were mostly taken from the 1511 Erfurt edition (VD16 V465), which in turn were derived from the 1476 Verona edition of Valturius's De re militari.

This is supposedly the second edition of Dürer's work, though the first edition, mentioned in Brunet and Dodgson as containing the fortress under siege plate, is a great rarity and does not appear in VD16.

Laurent Fries, a physician and astrologer, is connected with the mapmaker Waldseemüller through their joint publisher, Johann Grüninger of Strassburg, for whom Fries also produced an edition of Ptolemy in 1522. This work relates to Fries's reduction of Waldseemüller's 1516 map Carta marina navigatoria, published in 1525 (together with the first edition of Fries's Uslegung) but of which no copies survive. The fact that this accompanying text was also published in 1527 could indicate that another edition of the map was produced that year, though the first surviving copy of it dates from 1530 (Karrow 28/54.2). Karrow states that this 1527 edition does not contain the map of Madeira and the Canaries, but it is present in this copy.